


The Wisdom to Know the Difference

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Crazy Love [14]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, F/M, Family, Friendship, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-11
Updated: 2014-10-11
Packaged: 2018-02-20 16:40:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2435675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I will not be controlled or made into something I'm not.  I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop; I think it just cracked me in my head.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wisdom to Know the Difference

**Author's Note:**

> This story is written in the **Thicker than Water** universe, where the BAU are kids and teens.

Hotch knocked on Morgan’s door even though it was ajar. He heard him say come in so he did and stood in front of his bed. Morgan was in full chill mode. He was reading Sports Illustrated. His small TV, which didn’t have cable, was playing a local baseball game. The Orioles were currently losing to the Marlins. Morgan casually looked up from his magazine.

“What's up?”

“Can we talk man to man?” Hotch asked. “Brother to brother?”

“What's the matter?” now Morgan was sitting up on the bed.

Hotch didn’t ask those kinds of questions; didn’t have those conversations. At least he didn’t have them with him. Serious stuff was for Jason’s ears only. Morgan dispensed advice, usually unwanted, but he didn’t think Hotch paid much attention. Now he was coming to him and asking to talk. Something must be really wrong.

“Can we talk?” Hotch repeated.

“I wouldn’t have asked you what was wrong if we couldn’t. Sit down.”

“No, um, I'm OK.”

“OK.” Morgan shrugged. The boy was weird but he would let him have his weirdness. Apparently this was hard for him and Morgan wouldn’t make it any harder.

“Do you and Tina fight?”

“Well, fight is a strong word. We've had a few arguments. Sometimes she feels the need to put me in my place, which I probably deserve. Sometimes I express things that I feel strongly about and she doesn’t agree so we might go back and forth about it. Why?”

“Megan and I had a fight.” Hotch replied.

“And you lived to tell the story? That’s a good first step.”

“Derek…”

“I'm just kidding. C'mon, I'm trying to make you feel better. Was this your first fight?”

“Yeah.” Hotch’s nod was solemn. “But I'm right and she’s wrong.”

“Well the first thing you need to learn is that it doesn’t work that way.”

“What do you mean?” Hotch raised an eyebrow.

“Women are never wrong. They may be misinformed or slightly off-base. There's even the possibility of admitting they spoke too soon or out of turn, whatever that means. But wrong, noooo; it ain’t happening.”

“Well she is this time.”

“What was the fight about?” Derek asked. The boy just didn’t listen. This was some of the problem.

Hotch sat down on the bed. They argued the day before yesterday and hadn't spoken since. He was in agony. Not just because he missed her but because he knew he was right and didn’t want anything to happen to her. This was all her mother’s fault.

A friend of Melinda’s saw Megan’s picture when he came to visit the condo. He thought she was a beautiful young girl and should give modeling a try. He claimed to have tons of connections in New York and Europe. He would take the initial pictures himself and he swore to Melinda that Megan could be a cover girl in a matter of months. She was beautiful, all-American with her blonde hair and hazel eyes. There was also a sexy smolder underneath her innocence.

That was a big moneymaker in the business right now. She might need to lose five or ten pounds but it was all within her grasp. Melinda must have seen dollar signs because she jumped on Megan as soon as she got home. The teenager thought it sounded like fun. She loved being photographed and wouldn’t mind doing it at all. When she told her boyfriend about it, he was not pleased.

_“Something’s off with you.” she said._

_“I don’t want you doing this.” Hotch replied simply. They were sitting in the park not far from his house after going for a nice walk together._

_“Why? It could be really fun. I love posing for pictures and Armand is a professional. He’s photographed Kate Moss, Shalom Harlow, and even Kate Winslet.”_

_“Megan, this man could be a fraud. He could be planning to get you alone up there and take advantage of you.”_

_“No one takes advantage of me anymore.” She said it in her ‘Megan’ voice, the voice when she meant business._

_“I know you like to think you're invincible but you're not. This kind of thing happens all the time. And not to be disrespectful but I don’t always trust your mother’s intentions.”_

_“This isn’t about Melinda, it’s about me. I want to do this. I could make a lot of money doing it.”_

_“At what cost to you? I'm not going to let you become a statistic.”_

_“Oh my God,” she laughed. “You're so paranoid. I think you watch too many crime procedurals sometimes.”_

_“Don’t laugh at my concern.” Hotch folded his arms._

_“I'm sorry Aaron.” she put her head on his shoulder. “I'm not laughing at you. I just…I can take care of myself. Stop worrying so much; it’s not good for your blood pressure. Plus I read it causes wrinkles.”_

_“If you can take care of yourself then why do you need me?” he asked._

_“What are you saying?” Megan’s voice changed again. She moved away, looking at him with a different look in her eyes._

_“All I'm saying is if you're not going to let me look after you and take care of you then what are we even doing? If you're going to just disregard my feelings…”_

_“Oh so because I'm not some wilted flower you start to question whether we should even be together. I don’t need you Aaron, I want you. There is a difference you know. Oh God, you are such son of a bitch.”_

_“Megan…”_

_“I don’t want to hear it.” she held up her hand. “You're just like the rest of them, aren’t you? I will not be controlled or made into something I'm not. I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop; I think it just cracked me in my head.”_

_“I wasn’t saying…”_

_“You weren't saying what?” now Megan folded her arms. “Because it sounds to me like you're saying caring about me means you get to plan my every move. And if you don’t like it then it’s not to be done. Does that sound right, Aaron? Am I getting warm?”_

_“I should at least be allowed to go with you.” Hotch raised his voice, defending his stance. “You won't even listen to my concerns.”_

_“You know what, I left my dad in Dallas. I don’t need a protector. That’s not what this is supposed to be about.”_

_“Then what am I to you?” he asked._

_“Apparently nothing.”_

_Megan got up off the bench and walked away. Hotch couldn’t move. He wanted to jump up, stop her more than anything but he literally couldn’t move. She was angry; he didn’t want her to have a meltdown in public. She wasn’t listening and he didn’t know how else to say it. Hotch didn’t want to be rejected. So he sat on the park bench and let her leave._

_He sat there for the longest time; the sun was setting when Hotch finally got up and made his way home. His mind was going a mile a minute but he just had no idea what to do. He holed up in his room for the rest of the night. He picked up the phone to call her once, then again and again and again._

_He never completed the call. She didn’t call him either. Most of yesterday was a blur. Hotch didn’t know what he did to get through the day. He ran on auto-pilot and today was pretty much the same._

“Did she break up with me?” Hotch asked, feeling dumb for having to ask. He’d only had one girlfriend before and it didn’t end that way.

“No.” Morgan shook his head. “Girls usually say something like ‘it’s over’ or ‘go fuck yourself’ when they're doing that. She’s mad, for sure, but you need to call her.”

“What do I say?”

“I'm sorry is a good place to start.”

“But I'm not sorry.” He got a bit defensive. “I don’t want her being alone with some strange man who ends up coercing or forcing her to take inappropriate pictures that could haunt her for the rest of her life. Or even worse, he could rape her or even kill her. All her mother cares about is making some money off Megan while she still can. I know I'm paranoid sometimes but I don’t just trust some dude cuz he says he's a photographer. It’s the oldest trick in the book.”

“True.” Morgan nodded. “And she’s dead set against you going with her? Maybe you can voice your concerns again and she might see your side without admitting you're right or anything. Cuz the woman has to save face. You're never gonna be right, you have to understand that from the gate.”

“I thought I did voice my concerns.”

“You actually said if you couldn’t protect her then what were you guys doing. You said, in her mind, if I can't control you then I don’t wanna be with you.”

“I didn’t say that Morgan!”

“I said in her mind, Hotch. Take a breath; I'm not taking anyone’s side here. Megan is used to taking care of herself, whether she wanted to or not. It’s hard now to remember that someone out there is concerned for her well being. That concern comes out of love, or something, not a need to control. You have to try to talk to her again.”

“What if she doesn’t want to hear it?” Hotch asked.

“Then you may have to accept that. Girls do what they wanna do…end of sentence. If she doesn’t want you hanging around the photographer, are you gonna break up with her?”

“Breaking up is not in the equation, unless she dumps me. I never had anything like that on my mind. I’ll be upset if she doesn’t let me go with her. I don’t want anything bad to happen to her, Derek.”

“Do you trust her?” Morgan asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “I do. This isn’t about her though; it’s about some creep getting a teenage girl alone in a studio.”

Morgan nodded. He knew what his brother was saying. There was no way Morgan would go for that kind of thing if Tina came to him and said she was going to take glamour shots with some photographer. And if one of his sisters came and told him something like that, all kinds of red flags would go off.

Hotch had a right to be concerned. He was just going to have a hell of a time convincing his headstrong, and possibly crazy, girlfriend of that. He wanted to wish him good luck but something about that seemed condescending. Hotch was already on edge, the last thing Morgan needed to do was push him over.

The phone rang before he could think of something to say. He reached over to grab it, it might be Tina. Unfortunately he would have to talk to her later. Bro time came first and it was clear that Hotch needed all the help he could get. Derek would make it up to Tina tomorrow.

“Hello.”

“Hi Morgan, is Aaron there? It’s Megan.”

“Oh hey, sure. Hold on.” Morgan hit the mute button on the phone. “It’s Megan.”

“Are you serious?” Hotch looked at him with wide eyes.

“I wouldn’t joke about something like that. Take the call Hotch.”

“I'm going to.”

“So…”

“I just don’t want to say the wrong thing.” He admitted.

“You're not perfect; sometimes you will. That doesn’t mean you don’t try. She’s giving you the opportunity to make this right. Go.”

Nodding, Hotch left the room. He came back a few seconds later.

“For a pain in the ass little brother, you give good advice sometimes.” He said.

“You're welcome.” Morgan smirked. “You are lucky I love you.”

“I love you too, Derek.”

Smiling a bit, Hotch went over to his room and picked up the phone.

“Hello.” He heard the soft click of Morgan hanging up as he answered.

“Which one of us overreacted?” Megan asked.

“I think it was just about equal on both sides. I was trying to say something, maybe it came out wrong.”

“Or maybe I went a little psycho.”

“You're used to taking care of yourself, whether you liked it or not.” Hotch said, repeating what Morgan told him. “You have confidence in that and I do too. I want you to know that I really do. But I worry because sometimes people take advantage of young women and I never want that to happen to you.”

“I know that, Aaron. I've been taken advantage of…I know how much it hurts.”

“I just wanted to tag along to make sure you were OK. I wouldn’t get in the way or be some obnoxious boyfriend asking too many questions. I promise.”

“I know you wouldn’t.” Megan sighed. “I just want to forget this ever happened but it made me angry. I want to say things too.”

“What do you want to say?” he asked.

“I don't know. I want to thank you for caring, even if I yelled at you about it. A part of me is mad but a part of me is happy. That doesn’t make sense.”

“It makes sense to me, Megan.”

“How?”

“Because you're still getting used to having someone really be there for you. And I'm still getting used to navigating my way through wanting to protect you from more hurt. I can't always do that. And you're not always going to just surrender and let me.”

“So what do we do?” she asked.

“Well I start by apologizing for upsetting you. I still feel what I feel but I didn’t want to make you unhappy.”

“And I’ll apologize for taking it the wrong way when you’ve always had my back. I acted rashly; you’ve never been like other people in my life. I'm sorry I said that.”

“I'm sorry I didn’t chase you or call you that night.”

“It was probably for the best.” Megan replied. “I was so angry with you.”

Megan wasn’t going to tell him about the fist hole in her bathroom wall or the two slashed pillows. The only reason she didn’t cut herself was it was going to be hard to pose for a photographer with gashes. But she did lie in bed and think about strangling him. The images were more vivid then they had been in a long time. It helped her be able to sleep without crying. Megan didn’t want to be reduced to crying over him. But that was what you did when you loved someone, wasn’t it?

“Do you feel better now?” Hotch asked.

“I’d feel even better if you were here so I could hug you and kiss you and squeeze you.”

“The good squeeze I hope.” Hotch smiled.

“The best squeeze, Aaron Hotchner. I love you.”

“I love you too. Are you going to see that photographer?”

“I called this afternoon to set up the appointment. It’s on Sunday afternoon; are you free? I already told him that my boyfriend was coming. He didn’t seem pleased but I don’t particularly care about his feelings. Yours, on the other hand, mean a lot to me.”

“I don’t like fighting with you.” he said. “Are you sure you're OK, Megan? You didn’t…” Hotch couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. Thinking of her harming herself, especially because of something he did, felt like getting punched in the gut.

“I thought about it.” Megan admitted in a more subdued voice. “I didn’t though. It was more of a vanity thing than anything else but damn near any reason is good enough for me.”

“I want to see you.” Hotch said. The need to put his arms around her and hold on was palpable.

“Checking up on me, Aaron?” she was cheeky again.

“I want to hold you.”

“You never told me if you were free on Sunday or not.”

“I will be. When I go to work tomorrow I’ll tell Mrs. Clemmons that I can't work. I’ll see if I can switch hours with someone else. So, we’re not fighting anymore?”

“We’ll be making up as soon as you get here.” Megan replied.

“Is your mom home?” Hotch was in no mood for Hurricane Melinda tonight.

“I’ll give you three guesses…and you won't need two of them.”

“OK, I’ll be there in about 20 minutes.”

“See you then.”

He hung up, rushing across the room to put on his Adidas. Then he was back in Morgan’s room.

“We made up.” His dimples showed when he smiled.

“Good deal.” Morgan smiled too. “You’ve got on sneakers, which means you're leaving.”

“She wants to see me.”

“High five bro!”

Hotch smacked his hand on Morgan’s. Then he thanked his little brother again for listening and giving him good advice.”

“No matter what happens, I always have your back. That’s brotherhood Hotch; that’s family.”

Hotch nodded, turning and walking out. He was halfway down the second set of stairs when he ran into Emily.

“Where ya headed?” she asked. She carried a Coke and a Nutri-Grain health bar.

“I'm going to Megan’s. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Is everything OK?”

“It is now. We had a fight a couple of days ago.” Hotch could admit it now that it was smoothed over. “She just called and we worked it out.”

“Now you're going to get a work out?” Emily laughed at her joke, winking and nudging her twin.

“You know what, everyone who lives here is a ball of hormones.” Hotch rolled his eyes but still smiled. “I'm just going to give my girlfriend a big hug.”

“Good. I’ll see you later.”

She kept walking up the stairs. Hotch watched her for a moment, still smiling, and then went downstairs.

“Are you leaving, Aaron?” Jason asked.

“Oh my God, you scared me.” Hotch replied, jumping a little.

He honestly wasn’t used to anyone hanging out in the living room. The den was where the family spent much of its time. Jason was sitting in a chair and his chessboard was on the end table. He looked to be in the middle of a game. Black had checkmate in three moves.

“I'm sorry,” he pushed his glasses up on his face. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I'm going to Megan’s. I’ll be back in a few hours…I'm not spending the night.”

“Alright. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, it is now. I just want to see her. I’ll be back.”

“Drive carefully.” Jason said.

“I will. Bye.”

Hotch left the house, making sure the door was locked behind him. He stood on the porch for a minute and inhaled the fragrant air. The sun had just gone down; there was still plenty of hours left on this summer night. Spending all of them wrapped in his girlfriend’s arms would be perfect. Hotch wouldn’t object to a little perfect right now.

***

  



End file.
